What is fast fashion? Fast fashion is the mindset of companies to produce as many new styles and trends as possible and sell them as quickly as possible. The ideal reaction is that consumers will hopefully purchase large amounts of garments and will keep repeating their purchasing habits in order to stay “with the seasonal trends”. Policies behind fast fashion include creating 52 “micro seasons” each year, producing small quantities of an item so people feel the need to buy it on the spot, and mainly, producing large quantities and selling at a low price to attract consumers.
How do companies sell these clothes for so cheap? This is accomplished by the outsourced production of clothing by 40 million garment workers, and 30 million at home embroiderers. Garment factories overseas exploit workers by paying extremely low wages, about two dollars a day, even in unethical working conditions. These conditions include ten to fifteen hour days in the factory, which itself is poorly built and unsafe, and extreme pressure to meet deadlines. Companies enforce these deadlines by intimidation, violence, and even the act of locking workers inside until finished. Even the fire escapes are locked. This sets a perfect birthing ground for explosions, fires, or gas leaks, especially with faulty machinery. This worker treatment would never be accepted in North America, why is it okay to do this overseas?
What are the environmental effects? When companies purchase fabric for their factories it is often a synthetic material, which takes very long to biodegrade since the fibers are man-made. The fabric is typically bought in bulk to lower the price, so most of the fabric doesn't get used, just thrown into the landfill. Factories overseas need large ships to transport the clothes around the world which gives off large greenhouse gas emissions. Since clothes are cheaper you purchase more items, most of which just get shoved into the back of your closet until you dispose of them. All of this discarding of items both by companies and consumers adds up to create a large Eco-footprint.
What can you do as a consumer to protect these workers and the environment? The main thing you can do is be a conscious consumer. Buy things you need and will get lots of use out of, take care of these items, and once you've gotten use out of them donate them to clothing donation centers so they can have a new life! Know what you are paying for through the low price. A twenty dollar shirt may seam like a steal but the only thing you are stealing is the basic rights of workers across the world. Other means of being a conscious consumer include learning to sew, supporting local businesses, and purchasing second hand at thrift stores.
Someone is paying the price for the cheap clothing you are buying, and it's not the companies, but the workers around the world. What is the true cost on the environment, and workers?
Fast Fashion I
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion is the mindset of companies to produce as many new styles and trends as possible and sell them as quickly as possible. The ideal reaction is that consumers will hopefully purchase large amounts of garments and will keep repeating their purchasing habits in order to stay “with the seasonal trends”. Policies behind fast fashion include creating 52 “micro seasons” each year, producing small quantities of an item so people feel the need to buy it on the spot, and mainly, producing large quantities and selling at a low price to attract consumers.
How do companies sell these clothes for so cheap?
This is accomplished by the outsourced production of clothing by 40 million garment workers, and 30 million at home embroiderers. Garment factories overseas exploit workers by paying extremely low wages, about two dollars a day, even in unethical working conditions. These conditions include ten to fifteen hour days in the factory, which itself is poorly built and unsafe, and extreme pressure to meet deadlines. Companies enforce these deadlines by intimidation, violence, and even the act of locking workers inside until finished. Even the fire escapes are locked. This sets a perfect birthing ground for explosions, fires, or gas leaks, especially with faulty machinery. This worker treatment would never be accepted in North America, why is it okay to do this overseas?
What are the environmental effects?
When companies purchase fabric for their factories it is often a synthetic material, which takes very long to biodegrade since the fibers are man-made. The fabric is typically bought in bulk to lower the price, so most of the fabric doesn't get used, just thrown into the landfill. Factories overseas need large ships to transport the clothes around the world which gives off large greenhouse gas emissions. Since clothes are cheaper you purchase more items, most of which just get shoved into the back of your closet until you dispose of them. All of this discarding of items both by companies and consumers adds up to create a large Eco-footprint.
What can you do as a consumer to protect these workers and the environment?
The main thing you can do is be a conscious consumer. Buy things you need and will get lots of use out of, take care of these items, and once you've gotten use out of them donate them to clothing donation centers so they can have a new life! Know what you are paying for through the low price. A twenty dollar shirt may seam like a steal but the only thing you are stealing is the basic rights of workers across the world. Other means of being a conscious consumer include learning to sew, supporting local businesses, and purchasing second hand at thrift stores.
Companies that support ethical fashion!
Someone is paying the price for the cheap clothing you are buying, and it's not the companies, but the workers around the world. What is the true cost on the environment, and workers?
(the full documentary can be found on Netflix)
Drennan, Kelly. "Picking up the threads: fast fashion led to the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh. We can do better." Alternatives Journal 41, no. 3 (2015): 20+. Academic OneFile (accessed November 16, 2017). http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=albertak12&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA421212531&asid=0e0753e7719777943995720083c27c81.
Cohen, Aaron M. "Fast fashion: tale of two markets: should retailers put the brakes on quick-response manufacturing?" The Futurist, September-October 2011, 12+. Academic OneFile (accessed November 16, 2017). http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=albertak12&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA265104868&asid=75bc669b52b43cfbd24e1dc8616605f6.
Britannica School, s.v. "Fashion industry," accessed November 16, 2017, http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/fashion-industry/489932.
Phelan, Hayley. "Overdressed's Author Gives Us 8 Tips on How To Avoid the Fast Fashion Frenzy and Still Not Spend a Ton on Clothes." Fashionista. July 06, 2012. Accessed November 16, 2017. https://fashionista.com/2012/07/overdresseds-author-gives-us-8-tips-on-how-to-avoid-the-fast-fashion-frenzy-and-still-not-spend-a-ton-on-clothes.
Siegle, Lucy. "Why fast fashion is slow death for the planet." The Observer. May 07, 2011. Accessed November 16, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/may/08/fast-fashion-death-for-planet.
Whitehead, Shannon. "5 Truths the Fast Fashion Industry Doesn't Want You to Know." The Huffington Post. August 19, 2014. Accessed November 16, 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannon-whitehead/5-truths-the-fast-fashion_b_5690575.html.